this is the business briefing. i'm sally bundock. the first phase: us and chinese officials are set to sign the initial part of this is the briefing. a significant trade deal. i'm sally bundock. we'll find out what impact it'll have around the globe. amazon'sjeff bezos arrives our top stories: in india for a 3—day visit. the remaining contenders to take on donald trump but is he being greeted clash in the final debate before the selection process begins. with open arms? iran condemns britain, and asian financial markets france and germany for triggering are seeing their first declines a dispute over tehran‘s violations of the nuclear deal. for five days with concerns us—china trade tensions will go schoolchildren are treated beyond today's signing after a plane dumps fuel over of an initial deal in washington. los angeles before making an emergency landing. in business briefing, us and chinese officials are set to sign the first part of a significant trade deal.

good to have you with us. this is wednesday's app briefing. —— wednesday's briefing. a warm welcome to the programme, briefing you on all you need to know in global news, business and sport. also in the programme, rutland in the uk will lose its status as the only county without a mcdonald's as plans for a new drive—thru restaurant have been approved. so, we'd like to know where you live, are there many global chains? if so, is it good for your local community, for businesses? get in touch — just use the hashtag #bbcthebriefing. in the last few hours, the candidates to take on donald trump in this year's presidential election have squared off in the final debate before the selection process begins.

there were lively exchanges as the former vice president joe biden tussled with progressive favourite bernie sanders over the iraq war. and mr sanders was assailed by elizabeth warren over his alleged comment that a woman couldn't win in 2020. from iowa, here's our correspondent gary o'donoughue. here in the spin room, all of the campaigns are trying to hone their message to the waiting journalist, trying to argue that their candidate alone was the outright winner. but in truth, no—one delivered a knockout below —— blow tonight, but there have been some palpable tension between elizabeth warren and bernie sanders. they have failed to shake hands on the debate stayed at the end of proceedings. unusual for one of these baits, there was a discussion of foreign affairs and attentions of the run and the killing of qasem soleimani. some of the candidates want to bring troops home straightaway. others want to

leave some in the middle east for the time being. there were six candidates on the stage tonight, but in truth, there was a seventh. a seventh presence, that of donald trump. and a big question, who could best beat him in the november election? joe biden will feel he has made his case once again for that claim. but there is still a long way to go. gary o'donoghue. before that debate took place in iowa, another event with big implications for the us election. the republican leader of the us senate has said the impeachment trial of president trump is likely to begin next tuesday. here's mitch mcconnell. with regard to impeachment, our understanding is, and i think your understanding is as well, that the house is likely to send the articles over to us tomorrow, and we believe if that happens in all likelihood we will go through some preliminary

steps here this week, which could well include the chiefjustice coming over and swearing in members of the senate and some other kind of housekeeping measures. we hope to be able to achieve that by consent, which would set us up to begin the actual trial next tuesday. democrats accuse the president of abusing his power and obstructing congress. and as part of the trial, democrats want to hear from current and former white house officials, such as former national security adviserjohn bolton. we join the american people in wanting the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth to come out of the trial. if you want the truth, you have to have witnesses. you have to have documents. who has ever heard of a trial without witnesses and documents? i'm pleased that some of my republican colleagues are now beginning to come around to our position. the senate democratic leader

on the impeachment trial. president trump has already pulled the united states out of the iran nuclear deal. and now, european nations have put iran on notice over breaches of the 2016 nuclear agreement. that deal was supposed to discourage iran from building nuclear weapons. gareth barlow reports. preventing iran from obtaining nuclear weapons has been a long—term goal of europe and the us, but the landmark agreement that bound tehran to strict limits is now in full dispute. —— formal dispute. france, germany and the uk reject iran's argument it can withdraw —— ignore production limits on uranium used in nuclear powerplants and also weapons after america walked away from the deal. the aim of the dispute resolution mechanism is not to reimpose sanctions. the aim of this mechanism

is to resolve issues relating to the implementation of the agreement. the beleaguered 2015 nuclear agreement was designed to curb iran's ability to build nuclear weapons. in 2018, president trump pulled out of the deal, calling it flawed, and reimposed sanctions. last year, tehran said it wouldn't comply with all its commitments and recently has gone further following increased tension with the us. the three european governments say these breaches have left them with no choice but to trigger the dispute process as a first step towards reinstating international sanctions. translation: we call on iran to constructively participate in these negotiations, the goal of which will be to safeguard the nuclear deal. we believe it makes sense to save this nuclear deal for the future because it prevents iran from getting a nuclear bomb. the iranian foreign minister, javad zarif,

decried the dispute as a strategic mistake, but iran's foreign ministry spokesman said iran was ready to maintain international agreements. all sides now have 15 days to resolve the issues raised. if they fail, the eu countries can refer the matter to the un security council, which could vote to reimpose any sanctions on iran. gareth barlow, bbc news. let's brief you on some of the other stories making the news. government forces in the sudanese capital, khartoum, have overrun the intelligence headquarters where security personnel loyal to the former president, omar al—bashir, were based. the mutineers had negotiated a surrender, and soldiers have now moved into the northern suburb of kafouri. there are still tanks and armoured vehicles on the streets, but the international airport has now reopened. fire services in catalonia are saying a huge blaze, the result of an explosion at a chemical plant, has now been contained. the blast, near the port city of tarragona, killed one person and injured eight others. some have severe burns. one person is still missing. authorities say

no toxic substances have been found. police in peru have detained six foreign tourists for vandalising a temple wall in the ruins of machu picchu, the ancient city built by the inca empire. one of them, an argentine national, allegedly tried to remove a stone that fell on the floor and caused damage to the site. he'll be tried in peru and could be sentenced to jail. the other five tourists will be deported. mexico's president says that his government has so far failed to sell his predecessor's $130 million aircraft. the boeing 787 dreamliner was acquired by former president enrique pena nieto eight years ago. but current leader andres lopez obrador says it's a hangover from what he called an out—of—touch ruling elite. the mexican government is also selling 70 other government helicopters and planes.

president trump and the chinese vice premier will sit down and sign a trade deal that could signal the beginning of the end of their bruising battle over the price of everything from soybeans to iphones. but don't expect tariffs to be lifted soon. the white house says that won't happen until "phase two" is in the bag. jeremy thomson cook, founder of complete currency consulting, joins me now. good morning. nice to see you. finally we have arrived where the us and china will be in the same room in washington, pens in hand, signing something. narrative for pens. phase one is now complete, and this will see china locked into or agreeing to buy many billions of agricultural goods, energy goods but also things like planes and cars from the us, which they were not beholden to do

previously. some people are saying this is a win for the trump administration there is obviously still a lot of road to travel because a lot of issues around the us trying to trade have been addressed. to get to this point, sign phase one, they have put the controversial tricky stuff one side, which in a way, it is a good way of doing things, because you have to make some progress. you have to take baby make some progress. you have to take ba by ste ps. make some progress. you have to take baby steps. and this is progress. the trickier things like intellectual property, which really comes to the heart of the us—china investment flow, which is the largest in the world, has to be done in phase two by the end of the year. as you say, still a long road ahead. in terms of the impact of all of this so far, could you some of it has been like with your mark it has dominated business, it has dominated global trade. financial markets since trump began this war. basically one of the first things that he did when he came into the presidency was to take on china, taking on their currency, taking on

the economy and saying the us is not getting a fair dealfor the economy and saying the us is not getting a fair deal for the economy and for its consumers. so many billions, 250, $275 billion of ta riffs billions, 250, $275 billion of tariffs levied on chinese goods coming into the us economy. this is the first step. those tariffs are still in place and will be in place until at least after the election, but this is a phase one approach to maybe just deescalating the risk of the us—china trade pact. maybe just deescalating the risk of the us-china trade pact. thank you for now. jeremy returned later. when it comes to the story on washington, we will discuss it further in business briefing as well. an investigation is under way after a passenger plane dumped fuel over the grounds of several schools while coming in for an emergency landing at los angeles airport. more than a0 people, most of them children, were treated for minor injuries. the delta airlines flight had reported engine trouble. richard forrest reports. thousands of litres of aviation fuel

raining down onto a school below. the delta airlines flight which had just left la international airport and was destined for shanghai dumped the fuel before making an emergency landing shortly after takeoff. schools across the region, children and adults required treatment for skin irritation and breathing issues. although nobody was hospitalised, over 70 firefighters and paramedics were dispatched. pupils at park elementary school, some 26 kilometres from the airport, we re some 26 kilometres from the airport, were outside under the flight class —— path as the plane crossed overhead. delta, the flood public operators, said pilots reduced —— release the fuel to reduce the aircraft was nic weight ahead of the emergency landing. federal aviation regulation reveals date that while fuel may be dumped in emergencies, it may only be done so over designated areas and at high altitude because of an investigation is under way.

still to come: they call themselves the jetmen — two french daredevils fly through heaven's gate in china. day one of operation desert storm to force the iraqis out of kuwait has seen the most intense air attack since the second world war. tobacco is america's oldest industry and one of its biggest, but the industry is nervous of this report. this may tend to make people want to stop smoking cigarettes. there is not a street that is unaffected. huge parts of kobe were simply demolished as buildings crashed into one another. this woman said she had been given no help and no advice by the authorities. she stood outside the ruins of her business. tens of thousands of black children in south africa have taken advantage of laws passed by the country's new multiracial government and enrolled

at formerly white schools. tonight sees the 9,610th performance of the long—running play, the mousetrap. when they heard of her death today, the management considered whether to cancel tonight's performance, but agatha christie would have been the last person to want such a thing. you're watching the briefing. our headlines: the remaining contenders to take on donald trump have clashed in the final debate before the selection process begins. iran has condemned france, britain and germany for triggering a dispute over tehran‘s violations of the nuclear deal. china needs to face reality and respect the will of the taiwanese people according to taiwan's newly re—elected president, tsai ing—wen.

speaking exclusively to the bbc, president tsai said the threat from china, which claims the self—governing island as part of its territory, is intensifying, but she warned that any military action could prove costly to china. our correspondentjohn sudworth spoke to the president in taiwan's capital, taipei. hello, president tsai. hi. it was her warnings about china that hit home with voters. but now, she had something to say direct to beijing. this is a very strong message from the people of taiwan. that is, you know, they don't like the idea of being threatened all the time. we're a successful democracy. we have a pretty decent economy. you know, we deserve respect from china. her critics say she is reckless, that she risks provoking china. but her promise to stand up for taiwan saw her re—elected by a landslide in saturday's vote.

china has been intensifying its threat. and they have all sorts of actions, military exercises, and they have their military vessels, aircraft, cruising around the island. and also, with the things happening in hong kong, people get a real sense that this threat is real. your predecessor, ma ying—jeou, was able to preserve taiwanese democracy whilst building stronger ties with china. what's not to like about that approach? the situation has changed, so we're facing a very different situation now. taiwan is also changing. the first place in asia to legalise gay marriage, it is, she says, growing ever more distinct from china. we are an independent country

already, and we call ourselves republic of china, taiwan. and we do have government, we have the military and we have elections. few statements are likely to infuriate china more. with pressure bound to increase, taiwan's military is being beefed up. you cannot exclude the possibility of a war at any time. do you believe you would be able to stand up to a military action? i do think we have a pretty decent capability here. invading taiwan is something that is going to be very costly for china. she says she plans to further strengthen taiwan's democracy. the very thing that divides it from its authoritarian neighbour may in the end prove its most powerful defence.

john sudworth, bbc news, taiwan. here's our briefing on some of the key events happening later. now it's time to get all the latest from the bbc sports centre. hello i'm marc edwards and this is your wednesday sport briefing. we start with the english fa cup where tottenham hotspur are through to the fourth round after seeing off middlesborough 2—i in their replay in london. the argentinian job if you will, giovani lo celso opened the scoring for the home side after a dreadful pass from boro keeper, tomas mejias. the argentina international finishing well afterjust 2 minutes for his first goal at tottenham hotspur stadium. and it was his fellow countryman erik lamela, who doubled tottenhams lead after a quarter of an hour. boro did pull one back with 7 minutes to go but it's tottenham who go marching on into the next round where they will face southampton. they worked so hard against such a dominant team, in the end, so we did lots of things well. conceding a goal is a bit frustrating, but i am more frustrated that we didn't

score three, four, five. the crowd deserved it, a full stadium in these cup matches, with this emotion. the magic of the cup is still alive and well, the chance for a david and goliath encounter. let's paint the picture: you're a team in the third tier of your country's football league and you draw a cup tie against one of the world's biggest clubs — cue pandemonium. that's exactly what happened to spanish third division football club unionistas de salamanca — here they are going wild on tuesday after being drawn against giants real madrid in the last 16 of the copa del rey. imagine the celebrations if they end up winning! there's more cup action on wednesday — this time it's manchester united up against wolves in an all premier league clash at old trafford for their fa cup 3rd round replay. with united off the pace in the english premier league and needing to overturn a 3—1 first—leg deficit to rivals

manchester city in league cup — the fa cup is perhaps the one real prospect they have of domestic silverware this season. we wa nt we want to make sure that we go through. i'm sure that they want to go through as well because this tournament is one that we all dream about winning when you are young. i have loved my time in the finals and lifting the trophies. we want to go first. —— through. also later on wednesday — the three—time world champion mark williams is in action at the alexandra palace in london. the welshman has won this competition twice before and he'll be hoping to add to his trophy cabinet when he takes on the 2015 world champion stuart bingham in theirfirst round matchup. the invitational event features the world's top 16 players. and finally — she packed my bags last night pre flight. the first line of course to eltonjohn‘s smash hit rocketman. and perhaps the song listened

to by two intrepid daredevils known as the jet men who performed some mind—blowing stunts in china. jumping out of a helicopter before flying with carbon fibre wings through heaven's gate as part of ‘mission: human flight‘ — a programme that aims to achieve 100 percent autonomous human flight. watched by some rather confused fishermen they flew through the break in the rocks on tianmen mountain. according to the organisers they reached speeds of 400 kilometres per hour and did admit it was a bit scary. you won't find me and what of those. you can get all the latest sports news at our website — that's bbc.com/sport. but from me and the rest of the sport team, goodbye. our thanks to mark and the team. the taal volcano continues to spew ash and plumes of steam reaching almost a kilometre into the sky. volcanologists say the alert level remains at four which means a dangerous eruption could happen within hours or days. more than 50,000 people have

evacuated the area — but despite the warnings some have returned to their homes, to check on the livestock they left behind. howard johnson sent this report from the phillipines. they've declared a state of calamity here and it is clear to see why. but despite the continued threat of a hazardous eruption, some people are returning to their family homes. they own a small plot of land in the vicinity of the volcano and grow vegeta bles vicinity of the volcano and grow vegetables and bread chickens for a living. there lives were turned upside down on sunday when taal began erupting. translation: around apm, there was panic. began erupting. translation: around 4pm, there was panic. we saw a few smoke cloud coming from the volcano and could smell something awful. ash began following with small stones and soil. we were evacuated them because some people said there would because some people said there would bea because some people said there would be a soon army in the lake next to the house. we became scared. he says

he wanted to return home to his house today to check on his livestock and he found that many of his birds were in a sorry state. he was showing me a fighting cox here, it isa was showing me a fighting cox here, it is a popular sport in the philippines. the bird here is covered in dust and ash. he said a lot of the birds were affected when he left his farmer to seek safety in a shelter in an evacuation centre. other chickens are in a bad state. i saw wanted the back with what looks like a broken wing. the philippine department of agriculture says the thick ash has caused more than $10 million worth of damage to livestock and crops. he is showing us his vegetable patch where he grows squash. he says the condition of these plants now are so bad that he can't harvest them and he can't take them to market for sale. today, seismologists say that although the eruptions in the main way to have been weak in the last 2a hours,

residents evacuated from the 1a kilometre danger zone it should not be lulled into a false sense of security and return to their homes. howard johnson, bbc news. and would you ‘bung a bob for the big ben bongs'? in the words of the uk prime minister. the british government has suggested a crowdfunding campaign could be launched to pay for big ben to chime to mark brexit day. the bell is currently being restored and the official estimate is it would cost half a million pounds for temporary work to be done to allow it to ring, for people who want to celebrate brexit, on january the 31st. apparently, we've been having a look and there is a crowdfunding site on the go and apparently so far they have raised £205 so a little way off and the clock is ticking so we will see how that progresses. and, tell me what you think about our talking point today. they are about the news that

mcdonald's is actually now going to be in rutland which was the only county in the uk without a mcdonald's. local planning has given the go—ahead for a drive—through stops on there are happy and others are not. and were protesting about it. we ask you, how do global chains in yourarea impact it. we ask you, how do global chains in your area impact your community, local businesses, many of you have beenin local businesses, many of you have been in touch. we heard from sky, if thatis been in touch. we heard from sky, if that is yours with to handle, he says there are several big chains and they bring in what people want and they bring in what people want and need and jobs. people say, local businesses are better but they all have their place in the community. he says why not give small business owners the chance to open a restau ra nt owners the chance to open a restaurant instead of a mcdonald's. they can offer healthier eating. there are more objections to the mcdonald's opening but yet the council still approves it. corruption on so many levels. that is not the allegation against rutland by the way i might add. dexter says, they are good for the community because they create jobs for people but i think it is about

time at global businesses are made to pay taxes in the country where they are doing business. thank you for your comments. i'll be back with business briefing. hello there. tuesday was another very windy day across the board, particularly england and wales, which saw another area of low pressure move up from the south. it will remain windy across the north of scotland with strong winds and high clouds across the area of low pressure. you can see low pressure to the north of the uk which will bring further frequent showers to scotland and northern parts of northern ireland. some of these went on the hills. sunshine further south. the overnight weather front which will be slow to clear from the south—east soa be slow to clear from the south—east so a bit ofa be slow to clear from the south—east so a bit of a wet start here. eventually, it will do and we will see plenty of sunshine for england and wales. one or two showers in the west, fairly breezy and strong winds

for scotland. lots of showers here and these will hit the high grounds. temperatures, a few degrees up on the ones we had on tuesday. and feeling a little cool further south. u nless feeling a little cool further south. unless you have the sunshine to compensate. that window a fine weather is short lived. the next area of low pressure moves in for thursday to bring another wet and windy day. we will see lots of isobars on the charts those isobars close together further west so those western areas will see the strongest of the winds. heavy rain as well sweeping northwards, crossing across much of the uk and a bit of rain getting into the east later in the day like i mentioned. a very blustery date for gusts of maybe 50, 60 mph into the irish seacoast into the afternoon. rain will continue to be happy as well. with the wet and windy weather comes the milder air once again. england and wales ten to 12 degrees but still on the cool side. scotland and northern ireland. that wet and windy weather sweeps northwards during thursday night. we will start to see more of a westerly or north—westerly chicken for

friday. just a few weather fronts ringing showers or longer spells of rain. friday is a transitional phase from the wet and windy weather to something more settled which will arrive for the weekend. while not to see a bit more sunshine for scotland, northern ireland, while two showers. most of the showers across england and wales and a bit of sunshine in between. the temperature is five to nine degrees and will be turning cooler. they have it, blue colours invade later into friday and the weekend. but, with high pressure building, it should be fine and settled for saturday and sunday stop lighter winds for many of us. more on the way of sunshine but it will be noticeably colder with a return to overnight frosts. 00:29:10,310 --> 4294966103:13:29,430 in taiwan's capital, taipei.